Chet Baker family against music industry

A report published last week in the Toronto Star by Professor Michael Geist of Canada’s University of Ottawa claims a copyright case under the Class Proceedings Act of 1992 may see the country’s largest players in the music industry facing upwards of C$6 billion in penalties.

Chet Baker

The case is being led by the family and estate of the late jazz musician Chet Baker; moving to take legal action against four major labels in the country, and their parent companies.

The dispute centres around unpaid royalties and licensing fees for use of Baker’s music, and hundreds of thousands of other works.

The suit was initially filed in August last year, but amended and reissued on October 6, two months later.

At that point both the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) and Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors (SODRAC) were also named defendants.